


Tears in Time

by SweetSorcery



Series: Journey's End [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Character Death Fix, Crying, Friendship, Frottage, Grief/Mourning, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M, Male Slash, Punishment, Romance, Separations, Slash, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-27
Updated: 2011-10-27
Packaged: 2017-10-25 00:10:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/269458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetSorcery/pseuds/SweetSorcery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry won't allow Cedric to break his promise, no matter the cost. (Harry is 14, Cedric is 17. However, this is not terribly explicit.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tears in Time

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All canon referred to within belongs to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books, Raincoast Books, Warner Bros. Inc., and possibly others. Non-canon bits were created for non-profit, non-infringement entertainment.
> 
> Archiving: Nowhere except here, and not in translated form either.
> 
> Author's Notes: This was written in January 2006.

" _No!_ " Harry screamed. Sweat and blood were distorting his vision, the flash of green light, over and over, all he could see each time he blinked. And each time he looked down - Cedric's eyes. Those eyes he had called perfect. Those eyes he had lost himself in. Eyes which had looked at him, less than twenty minutes ago, with so much affection, soft and tender and full of hope. Not blank and empty. Never that. Not dead. Not like now.

He pressed his dirty, tear-streaked face against Cedric's cold neck. "You promised!" he sobbed. "So much time, Cedric. You promised me so much time!" Everything was his fault, he knew. He'd been so scared for Cedric, he had thought he could keep him safe if only they stayed together. Took the cup together. Cedric would be _alive_ if not for him!

He felt hands on his shoulders, trying to pull him away from Cedric. " _No!_ " he screamed again, throwing himself on Cedric's body, resisting being separated from him over and over while he cried helplessly. He was unaware of anything around him, the whole school watching his unbearable grief, many - students and teachers alike - moved to tears as much by Harry as by Cedric's death.

"Harry." That was Dumbledore's voice, and his gentle hands were cupping Harry's face, trying to force him to look up.

Harry blinked up at him without seeing anything. "He's back! Voldemort is back! Cedric asked me to bring his body back." He sobbed brokenly, suffocating on his tears. "I couldn't leave him. Not there!"

"No," Dumbledore agreed sadly. "He's home now, Harry. You're both home."

Home! Harry sobbed, hysterical. Dumbledore had no idea. Right now, a deserted graveyard was more home than this. The centre of a forbidding maze was more home than this. The lake. The dragon pit. Everywhere he'd been with Cedric. Nothing else would ever be home again. He would never walk through Hogwarts again as if it was his home.

He clutched Cedric - so cold and remote now, in a different world, a better one maybe, but so far away. He couldn't reach him there. He sobbed into Cedric's stained shirt, the utter chill of the skin underneath reaching his cheek right through it. He knew Cedric would continue to grow colder, would soon begin to disappear altogether. Time was slipping away. Time they thought they would have, and never did. Never would. Cedric had never broken a promise, except this one. Time had run out, and it could not be turned back.

Turned back! Harry nearly choked on a wild, reckless thought, barely aware of Amos Diggory pushing him aside. Then there was someone else lifting him from Cedric's body, a thick arm over his shoulder, dragging him away. He didn't want to leave Cedric there, couldn't leave, but he was being pulled away despite all his struggling. All the while, he continued to sob. And think about time. And how to turn it back.

* * *

Moody had pulled him away. Moody - who was not Moody - had taken Cedric from him. That was all Harry managed to take in over the next half hour. Harry wanted nothing more than to kill him. Except for one thing - he wanted time back. He wanted _Cedric_ back.

While the headmaster, McGonagall and Snape were distracted by Barty Crouch Jr and the rescue of the real Moody from his imprisonment, Harry snuck away. Quietly, out of the office, through the DADA classroom, and into the corridors. Where? Where could he possibly find what he needed? Who would have access to a restricted magical item? Hermione!

He ran to Gryffindor Tower, into the common room where everyone sat weeping or comforting someone. Ron was as pale as a ghost. Hermione was sitting beside him looking numb.

"Hermione!" Harry yelled, his voice hoarse from crying, as he stumbled into the room.

"Harry! Oh Harry, I'm so sorry! You must be--"

"There's no time," he interrupted her, panting. "I need your help. Right now."

Hermione saw the wild, mad look in his eyes, and took a step back, frightened. "What, Harry? What is it?"

"I need your time turner. Now!" he demanded.

Hermione frowned. "I don't have it anymore. I gave it back after third year." She gasped. "Harry, you can't! Time turners are restricted. You could get into so much trouble."

Harry laughed, knowing but not caring that he sounded mad. "Trouble! Listen to yourself!" he cried out.

She looked at him worriedly. Ron had joined them, looking equally shocked at Harry's display.

"Harry, you can't." Hermione all but stomped her foot.

Harry glared now. "Your extra classes justified the use of a time turner, but preventing Cedric's death and the resurrection of Voldemort don't?"

Hermione opened her mouth, then closed it again. "Voldemort?" she gasped.

Harry growled menacingly. "He's back, using my blood. _Where_ is the time turner?" He reached into his pocket with shaking fingers and pulled out his wand. At the edge of his mind, he realised he was about to threaten one of his best friends, but he couldn't help it. He had one aim, and one aim only. He could barely bring himself to even think about Voldemort at that moment. This was about Cedric. Only Cedric.

Hermione paled, and her lips were quivering.

Ron gasped. "Tell him, Hermione, for heaven's sake! He's right! This is more important than bloody rules."

Hermione looked dead scared when Harry raised his wand. His fingers were trembling, and she wasn't sure he wouldn't use it. "Professor McGonagall," she sobbed. "I gave it back to her. I don't know what--"

But Harry had already run from the common room, not waiting to hear the rest. He was running through Gryffindor tower, to McGonagall's office, yelling out the password as he approached. The doors swung open with such force that they creaked on their hinges. Inside, he looked around frantically. The room was less messy and smaller, but just as cluttered, as the headmaster's office.

Harry concentrated, willing his mind to focus, but _not_ on Cedric lying out there, dead. "Accio..." He sobbed. "Accio... time turner!" Something thumped inside a wooden chest, trying to get out. Harry rushed to the low box and tried to open it, but it wouldn't. "Alohomora!" he yelled, pointing his wand at the padlock. It wouldn't budge. He swore, then looked around for a tool, anything he could use. Finally, desperate, he picked up a pointer and transfigured it into a pick, then hacked at the lock until it split open. The moment he raised the lid, the time turner flew into his hand, and he took a deep breath.

Hanging it around his neck, he raced from the room, not caring that the chest was left behind open, and the portrait covering the door was wailing after him to stop. He ran through the least used corridors back to the common room, past staring students, an accusatory looking Hermione, and a worried looking Ron, and got his invisibility cloak from the dorm. He remembered from the previous year that everything could go wrong if he saw himself in an alternate time before he could do what had to be done.

Once he was outside the school, he avoided wizards and witches walking about with their heads low, talking about Cedric, talking about him, crying.

Harry's own eyes were swimming with tears - drying ones and new ones - but somehow, he found his way back to the scene of the third task, which was now almost deserted. Even the maze was gone. And so was Cedric's body.

Harry's teeth chattered as he stood, shivering, in the dark. Focus. He had to focus. He took a few deep breaths, standing where he knew the entrance to the maze had been earlier, and held the time turner in his trembling fingers. How long had they been in the maze. Two hours? Three? It had been afternoon when they'd gone in. Still light. Four turns. Four hours.

Around him, everything began to reverse, speed up, a crowd gathered, and then he heard the cheerful brass music which had announced the beginning of the third task.

He lifted his head and, through his invisibility cloak, he looked across at Cedric - nervous and embarrassed by his father's posturing. And he was alive. _Alive!_ Harry sobbed out loud, quickly stifling the sound with his fist. He wanted nothing more than to run into Cedric's arms, beg him not to go in.

But there was a portkey set for Riddle Manor inside the maze, and while that was there, Cedric would be in danger. He saw himself standing at his own path into the maze, where Barty Crouch Jr lurked. Resisting the temptation to raise his wand and kill him right then, Harry snuck past him, and past himself, just as Cedric and he were about to go in. He hurried down the path he had taken earlier. He would need to remember every turn he'd taken, and he would have to do so with time to spare.

He rushed through the maze as quickly as he was able to retrace his steps, guided by inconsistencies in the growth of the hedges, reassured when the same dangers he had faced earlier stood in his way and dispatching them with ease because he had already done it, or avoiding them if he could simply sneak past them, invisible. When it grew dark, he came across Fleur, lying on the ground. Tendrils were reaching out and dragging her under the hedge, but he ignored her; he knew his other self was about to find her and send up the red sparks. He knew to avoid Krum and forced himself not to stop or speak or reveal himself when he caught glimpses of Cedric in the distance.

Still on the right track. There, Krum aiming his wand at him, Cedric defending him valiantly, then going to attack Krum. >Everything felt so unreal, but he was almost there. He saw the cup glinting in the distance, and he knew Cedric was about to be dragged to the ground by the roots of the hedge, and his other self would help him. That was the moment - just that brief moment - where he could change everything.

He raced past Cedric being pulled off his feet, past himself staring helplessly back and forth between the cup and Cedric; bile rose in his throat at the cruelty of a competition which would do that to him. Change him that much, if only for a moment. But it was crucial to him then, that momentary indecision.

He lifted the front of the cloak just far enough, raised his wand and pointed it at the Triwizard Cup, and shouted, "Incendio!"

With a hiss, the cup burst into fire, the sound covered up by the crackling of the hedge Cedric and the other Harry were struggling with. The cup burned, the metal twisting in the heat, and then it exploded with such force that Harry's invisibility cloak was blasted off and back from him, throwing him to the ground, revealed to both his other self and Cedric.

Both stared at him in confusion. And the other Harry disappeared.

"Harry!" Cedric called out, running towards him.

Harry smiled at him, and passed out just as Cedric caught him in his arms.

* * *

When Harry came to, it was to muffled voices arguing, and he felt grass soft under him. His eyes didn't seem to want to open. He recognised the voices as Dumbledore and McGonagall and Snape. And Minister Fudge, unfortunately. And in the distance, Ron calling out, "Is Harry all right?"

"Cedric," he merely gasped, and the voices receded somewhat.

Instantly, a gentle, warm hand rested on his cheek. "I'm here, Harry."

He sobbed out loud, forcing his eyes open.

Cedric, looking very worried, was kneeling at his side, the way he had knelt at Cedric's the first time around, when... No, he didn't want to think about that anymore. Harry struggled to sit up, and Cedric wrapped an arm around him and helped him. "You're alive," Harry whispered, twisting his fingers into Cedric's tunic and feeling his warm skin right through it.

"Of course I am," Cedric muttered, chuckling a little. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Harry threw his arms around him and clung, sobbing into his shoulder, and Cedric held him and shushed him and stroked his back soothingly.

"Harry?" Dumbledore's voice rose, and then he was leaning down to look at Harry seriously.

Harry ignored him. He couldn't look at anyone but Cedric, his fingers raised to his face, touching him to be quite sure he was really there. He wanted to never let go of him again. "Are you okay, Cedric?" he whispered.

"I'm fine, Harry." Cedric smiled, looking concerned.

"What happened, Harry? What did you do? Why did you destroy the cup?" Dumbledore's voice sounded unreasonably worried, Harry thought, considering everything was all right now.

"It hardly matters why, Headmaster," boomed Minister Fudge. "The boy has gone too far this time. Goodness! Destroying the Triwizard Cup to prevent Mr Diggory's victory! Not to mention the other matter."

The words hardly made sense to Harry. "What?" he mumbled, feeling dazed.

Cedric knelt at his side, frowning. But his eyes held concern, not scorn. "You blew up the cup, Harry."

"Yes," Harry said, nodding emphatically. "Of course. I had to."

"Well, I've never heard the like!" Fudge exclaimed.

"Potter!" Amos Diggory scrambled through the crowd, trying to pull Cedric away from Harry, but to no avail. So he simply shouted at Harry over his son's shoulder. "How dare you, Potter? That cup was Cedric's by right!"

Cedric glared up at his father. "How would you know, dad? Harry was closer to it than I was. And he must have had his reasons."

"Nonsense!" Amos Diggory boomed. "Jealousy! That's his only reason. Needed the attention, _Potter_? The money?"

Harry was holding his head. It was throbbing, with everyone shouting at him. But then Cedric's hand stroked his sweaty hair back from his forehead tenderly, and he immediately felt better.

"What's going on here, Cedric?" Diggory Sr snarled. "What are you doing? Why are you... touching Potter?"

Cedric sighed, looking at Harry. "Might as well?" he whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

"Might as well," Harry agreed, ducking his head in full expectation of Amos Diggory's temper being unleashed on him.

Cedric took a deep breath, boldly facing his father. "I love Harry, dad." He swallowed, but couldn't help looking back down and smiling at Harry. "And he loves me."

Harry smiled back, forgetting anyone else was there at all.

Amos Diggory stumbled back as if he'd been punched. Hushed whispers rose in the surrounding crowd. Someone snorted disdainfully, someone else murmured, "That's so sweet."

Ron, who had finally managed to make it to Harry's side, knelt down opposite Cedric. "You're full of surprises today, Harry." Harry blinked at him, his fingers still gripping Cedric's tunic. Ron carefully laid a hand on Harry's shoulder, avoiding the bruises on his arm and neck. He added his own glare up at Amos Diggory to Cedric's, just to be on the safe side, because the man looked as if he might just as likely explode as keel over with a heart attack.

Dumbledore sighed. "Harry, I'm afraid we're going to need quite a lot of explanations from you."

"There's something you have to know first, Professor," Harry said, suddenly remembering. "Mad Eye Moody - he's not... that's not Moody." When Dumbledore frowned, he said, "Barty Crouch Jr is using polyjuice potion. He's got the real Moody in a box in the DADA teacher's room."

Dumbledore frowned, but then he turned to Snape and McGonagall. "You had better see about this right away." When the two teachers hurried away towards the castle, he turned back to Harry, "How--"

"He did something to the cup. It was a portkey..."

"We know that, Harry," Dumbledore interrupted. "It was meant to bring you back here, where you started out."

"It was set to take me to Riddle Manor."

Dumbledore's brows rose, and there were fearful murmurs coming from the assembled crowd.

"A-ha!" Fudge yelled out. "Condemned from his own mouth!"

Cedric frowned worriedly. "Don’t say anything more, Harry, please."

Harry blinked at him in confusion. "Why? I--"

Cedric placed a finger across his lips. "Let me help you up. Come on." Pulling Harry to his feet with Ron's help, Cedric wrapped his arm around his middle and pulled Harry's arm across his shoulder.

"Okay?" Ron asked, wanting to help but not to intrude.

Cedric smiled at him. "Yes, we'll manage. But thank you, Ron."

Ron nodded and took a step back.

The crowd parted to make room as Cedric walked Harry back towards the castle. Dumbledore and Ron were following close behind, Minister Fudge was yelling at everyone who got in his way, and Amos Diggory was badmouthing Harry to anyone who'd listen.

"Do you need Madame Pomfrey?" Cedric asked Harry softly.

Harry smiled at him sideways. "I don't need anyone but you."

Cedric's eyes were soft but worried. "The cup blew up ten feet away from you. You probably have injuries you don't even know about yet."

"Don't care." Harry was still smiling. "Are you sure you're okay, though?"

"I'm fine." Cedric frowned. "You keep asking me that. Is there anything..."

"Harry. Cedric." Dumbledore interrupted. "Go to the hospital wing, so we can have both of you seen to. I'm afraid Minister Fudge will be coming along, but I've insisted you're taken care of first."

"First?" Harry asked. "Then what?"

Dumbledore looked at him with pity and shook his head. "Off to Pomfrey with you two. The rest can wait."

* * *

Madame Pomfrey wanted to take care of Harry's wounds first, despite his insistence that Cedric should be first. But only once he was assured that aside from a few scratches and bruises, there wasn't a thing wrong with Cedric, he allowed them both to manoeuvre him atop a bed. Pomfrey healed his arm, his scrapes and bruises, and the small burns on his face and chest from the exploding cup. She then attended to Cedric under Harry's watchful eyes.

By the time she was done, something of an inquisition had assembled on the other side of the hospital wing, and there even seemed to be a few aurors present.

"Are you ready, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, I suppose so. For what? This looks serious," Harry tried to make light of the situation.

Dumbledore looked at him as if he couldn't believe Harry wouldn't know. "You used a time turner, Harry."

Harry nodded. "Yes, so? Hermione did last year."

Dumbledore nodded. "I know. But the Ministry of Magic wasn't aware of that. And no tournament was involved. And--"

"Cedric wasn't killed!" Harry protested. Dumbledore stopped, staring at Harry.

Cedric gasped. "Killed?" he asked, his eyes wide.

They had reached Fudge and the rest of his men by then, and everyone was listening intently to Harry's words.

Harry sighed. "Cedric and I - we took the cup together. We were portkeyed to Riddle Manor... there was a cemetery. And Pettigrew had Voldemort, or some... thing that was going to be Voldemort, and he dropped him into this cauldron. And then he chopped off his own hand, and threw in a bone from the Riddle grave, and then he cut my arm. Voldemort came back because of my blood."

Dumbledore gripped his arm, staring at the scar still left from Pomfrey's healing. Blood was still soaking his dirty shirt. "Is this true, Harry?" he asked.

Harry glared at him, offended. "Of course it's true."

"What about Mr Diggory?"

Harry swallowed. "Pettigrew killed him." He barely dared to look at Cedric, who was inhaling sharply at his side.

"That is a preposterous story!" Fudge exclaimed. "Voldemort resurrected in a cauldron like a muggle tin of soup? Really, Potter."

Cedric's arm tightened around Harry's shoulder. "Why would Harry make up such a thing? That's ridiculous."

Harry sighed, pressing against Cedric's side. He knew he should probably be angry for being disbelieved, but somehow, nothing seemed to get through to him except the fact that he had Cedric back. People could think him a liar all they wanted, as long as he could feel Cedric's heart beat and the warmth of his through his thin tunic.

"He saved my life," Cedric was saying, sounding awed.

"Or so he says." Fudge snorted. "Potter, all your fame and powerful friends won't help you now." With this he glared at Dumbledore, then back at Harry. "You've gone too far this time. There'll be consequences."

Harry blinked at him, Cedric's fingers digging into his upper arm.

Dumbledore was glaring at Fudge, for once not a trace of a twinkle in his gaze. "Surely you're not suggesting--"

Fudge sneered. "I'm not _suggesting_ anything. I'm informing Mr Potter here that his latest bout of rule breaking will not go unpunished. He has been defiant of all wizarding laws of time, he has misused a dangerous magical item--"

" _Misused?_ " Harry sputtered in disbelief.

"And he has interfered with the Triwizard Cup." Fudge looked far too satisfied. "If I were you, Mr Potter, I shouldn't make any plans for the near future."

Harry's eyes widened.

Cedric glared at Fudge. "How dare you threaten Harry?"

Dumbledore was standing beside Cedric and Harry by then, resting a placating hand on Cedric's shoulder.

"A little more respect, Mr Diggory, if you please." Fudge smirked nastily.

Cedric started forward and was about to launch into the kind of outburst he had never in his life entertained, but Dumbledore held him back and spoke up with forced calm, "Minister, surely the facts speak for themselves. Harry's wound, for one thing. And Moody having turned out to be an impostor--"

"Extenuating circumstances or not," Fudge interrupted. "Mr Potter is a danger to his classmates and the wizarding world at large. As such, I will ensure that he will be removed from this school and placed somewhere he can do no damage until he is old enough to understand the principle of consequences."

Everyone began shouting in either outrage or excitement, and Harry heard words like prison, St Mungo's, and so forth. "How long?" he asked softly over the barrage of voices. And then again more loudly when no one answered. "For how long?"

Fudge grinned, clearly certain he had sufficiently cowed Harry. "Until you are of age, I should think. Yes. Your seventeenth birthday. I'm sure by then, even you should learn some humility."

Dumbledore roared at Fudge, "If you should even think of sending the boy to Azkaban!"

Fudge flinched, taking a step back. "Well, I'm sure we don't have to go as far as that. After all--"

"Letting a bunch of death eaters kill me before I'm required to fight Voldemort won't do?" Harry suggested sarcastically.

Cedric held Harry close, his arms warm and comforting around him, but Harry could feel him trembling.

Dumbledore stared at Fudge, silently demanding answers.

"He must be imprisoned," Fudge insisted.

"What about his education?" Dumbledore asked.

"In the right kind of institution, that will be seen to. In addition, his teachers here may send him lessons, and only lessons, by owl."

"If you're taking Harry, I'm going as well," Cedric declared. "I'm the reason he used a time turner."

Fudge gave a false laugh. "Hardly, Mr Diggory. We're not about to send Mr Potter on holiday. In fact, personal visits are not customary. You will be allowed to communicate with him by owl once a month." Nastily, he added. "Of course, you will have to make arrangements with his friends, because he will only be allowed to receive a single personal communication each month. And they will of naturally be examined. There can be no visits."

Harry started shaking then.

Cedric hugged him close, glaring at Fudge. "You're saying no one is allowed to see Harry for the next two years."

"That is precisely what I'm saying. It should give him plenty of opportunity to consider his irresponsible actions."

* * *

An emergency meeting of the Wizengamot - without Dumbledore's participation, of course - was called, and within two hours, Minister Fudge, who had left his aurors behind at Hogwarts, afraid Harry might abscond in the meantime, returned. His self-satisfied expression did not bode well.

No one had expected him to get his ludicrous punishment approved, but approved it had been. Clearly, Fudge had painted a sufficiently dark picture of the danger Harry posed to terrify the Wizengamot into compliance. And he took great delight in informing Harry of this in the presence of Professor Dumbledore - who looked more angry and at once helpless than ever, and Cedric - who had never before in his life been tempted to use an Unforgiveable.

Harry himself felt numb. He realised he had only ever known complete happiness or complete sadness. All at once, he was forced to confront both together. He had Cedric back - alive and well; and he was about to be snatched away from him for two years.

Dumbledore negotiated angrily with Fudge, insisting that Harry would at least not be taken to Torgate until the following day, and that he would be allowed to recover in the hospital wing overnight and say goodbye to his friends properly.

Fudge would have refused, but Wizengamot on his side or not, he was on his own here on Dumbledore's turf, and he was nothing if not a coward. "Very well," he finally gave in. "But I will be leaving a pair of aurors stationed outside the hospital wing. And they will be taking Mr Potter away in the morning. I trust I need not point out that his... disappearance would be met with the harshest repercussions for everyone involved."

After Fudge had left, Dumbledore walked up to Harry, who was sitting on a hospital bed with Cedric next to him, arm around his shoulder protectively. "Harry, I'm so sorry. There's nothing I can do," he said regretfully. "I can only assure you that Torgate is nothing like Azkaban. There are no dementors, and I will personally ensure that you are treated well and fairly."

"There's nothing fair about any of this!" Cedric spat the words, his normally gentle eyes burning with fury and unshed tears. "Sir," he mumbled as an afterthought.

Harry squeezed his hand on his lap.

Dumbledore sighed. "I agree, Mr Diggory."

"Can't we..." Cedric started. The headmaster shook his head. "Look, Professor Dumbledore, I'm 17. What if I were to get away with Harry, tonight. Surely, if we were to hide in the muggle world--"

"No," Harry interrupted. He looked up at Cedric with a sad smile. "It means a lot to me to know that you would do that for me."

"There's _nothing_ I wouldn't do for you, Harry," Cedric said softly, kissing Harry's temple.

Dumbledore lowered his eyes.

Harry couldn't speak for a moment. He swallowed hard, "Cedric, if we did this, we'd never be able to return to the wizarding world. We'd never be free." And with an attempt at humour, he added, "And muggles can drive you right up the wall, trust me."

Cedric sighed. "I don't care. If you're willing to do it, I'm right by your side."

"There's only one thing I want," Harry said, his eyes fixed on Cedric.

"Anything."

"Wait for me, and be by my side when I come back?"

Cedric blinked, a tear finally escaping. "You know I will."

Harry raised his hand and wiped the dampness from Cedric's cheek. "Yes, I know."

Dumbledore, whom both of them had forgotten about, cleared his throat. "Perhaps Mr Potter should get cleaned up and settled in for the night. I'll have a house-elf bring up some food."

"I'm not leaving," Cedric stated, grey eyes stern and defiant.

Dumbledore smiled. "Certainly not. After all, you're still recovering yourself, Mr Diggory. I'll have some of your night things brought up as well."

Cedric nodded. "Thank you, sir." He sighed. "What about Harry's friends?"

"Yes." Dumbledore stroked his beard. "I shall have to speak to them. Perhaps it would be best if they came by shortly, so that the two of you can get settled."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said. "I... I'll go and have a shower." He gave Cedric a quick smile and went to the hospital bathroom.

As soon as Harry had left, Cedric seemed to collapse in on himself. He rested his head in his hands and began to cry.

With a sigh, Dumbledore stepped close to him and wrapped his arms around him, one gentle, old hand stroking over his dishevelled hair for a few minutes.

Once he decided the boy had calmed enough for him to leave, he squeezed Cedric's shoulders, then left to arrange things.

* * *

The same moment Harry returned, Ron and Hermione were entering the hospital wing, Hermione looking sad and Ron furious.

"Please, don't say anything about... you know." Harry forestalled the inevitable discussion for which he was simply too drained. "We've already gone through the options, and there's nothing to be done."

Ron's hands were balled into fists at his sides, but he nodded.

Cedric, who had meanwhile composed himself again, held out a hand to Harry and pulled him down beside himself, while Ron and Hermione sat down on the opposite bed.

"We'll have to arrange which of us gets to write to Harry every month," Cedric said. "I don't know... take turns, I suppose." He sounded utterly miserable.

Ron shook his head. "There's nothing to arrange, Cedric. You're writing to Harry, obviously. If Hermione and I want to tell Harry something, you can just mention it in your next letter." Hermione looked sad, but nodded.

Cedric looked like he might kiss Ron, and Harry smiled at his friends. "You're the best, you two."

Hermione was clearly on the verge of tears, but swallowed them back. "Two years isn't so long, Harry," she said. "Professor Dumbledore says the place they're sending you isn't like a prison. More like a strict school. With a bit of extra security."

"Right." Harry looked anything but comforted.

"We'll get to send you birthday presents, according to Dumbledore," Ron said. "Well, it'll only be this one coming up and next year. I mean, the year after that, you'll be back for your seventeenth. That's going to be a real party, mate!" He tried very hard to make it all sound like nothing more than an involuntary holiday. Harry smiled at Ron crookedly, appreciating the effort. "So you saved Cedric's life and prevented Vol-- well, coming back?" Ron asked.

Cedric nodded, looking at Harry with what could only be called pride. "Yes, he did."

Ron smiled. "That's brilliant. Good job, Harry." He grew serious. "They should be giving you bloody medals and Orders of Merlin, First Class, instead of--" Hermione poked him in the ribs. "Sorry," he murmured, hanging his head.

Harry sighed. "I'd have done the same thing knowing I'd end up like this." He looked at Cedric. "Two years is hardly a big price to pay for Cedric's life."

The smile Cedric returned was sad but sweet.

Ron and Hermione grinned at each other.

"When did all this with you two happen then?" Ron asked, glad for the more pleasant change of subject.

"First task," said Harry and Cedric at once.

"We kind of slept together." Harry blushed.

Hermione meeped, and Ron blushed more furiously than Harry.

"Kind of," Cedric confirmed with a smirk. "We shared a bed in the champions' tent and, um..."

"We were talking..." Harry continued.

"And fell asleep," Cedric closed.

Ron grinned. "Right."

"Honestly," Harry quickly said.

There was a brief silence which Hermione, furiously red, interrupted with, "Well, I think you two are adorable together. And very lucky, both of you. I mean..." She looked like she desperately wanted to take that last back.

Harry didn't let her. " _Very_ lucky."

He smiled at Cedric, who was about to wrap his arm around him but quickly drew back. "You're all clean now. I really ought to have a shower myself. And you three will want to talk." He kissed Harry's cheek. "I'll be back very soon." He smiled at all of them and rose to pick up his fresh pyjamas from a nearby bed.

Three pairs of eyes followed Cedric from the room.

"What a catch," said Ron, with feeling.

Harry and Hermione stared at him, and he blushed. All three of them chuckled.

"He is." Harry grinned.

Hermione cleared her throat. "You'll get to do your seventh year here then?"

"Yes." Harry looked at his friends. "You two will still be here."

"We sure will be." Ron smiled. "And so will Cedric, somehow, I'll bet."

Harry's chest clenched. Cedric would be out of school by the time he got back. Where would he be? What would he be doing? He'd wait for him, he'd said so. "Yes," he said softly.

They talked about what happened in the maze and in the alternate timeline until Harry grew too uncomfortable, and then discussed what they were to tell the rest of Gryffindor. Harry told Ron he expected him to look after Hedwig for him, and Ron proudly agreed. Hermione said she'd try to see if she couldn't get extra books sent to him with the teachers' lessons, and Harry smiled as if he relished the prospect. In a way, he did. He had a feeling he'd be needing whatever he could get to keep him busy and from going mad with longing for Cedric.

By the time Cedric returned from his shower - dark hair curling damply over the collar of his grey bathrobe, bare feet sticking out from the legs of blue-grey striped pyjamas, Harry felt exhausted from the effort of putting on a brave face before Ron and Hermione.

Cedric sensed it the moment he walked in. He sat down next to Harry again and raised his hand to brush his knuckles over his cheek. "Tired?" he asked softly.

Harry gave him a lopsided grin.

"We should be going," Hermione said decisively.

Ron stood, looking ready to cry. "Well, um..." He moved towards Harry.

Harry rose and stared at him. Then he moved forward and hugged Ron, burying his head in the crook of his neck.

Ron wrapped his arms around him and squeezed him tight, eyes closed and face hidden in Harry's hair. "You'll be okay, Harry," he murmured, and his voice sounded congested. "We'll be right here when you come back."

"Promise?" Harry mumbled against a well-worn and slightly scratchy Weasley jumper that smelled of cinnamon.

"Promise." Ron squeezed him tight once more and reluctantly released him, not quite meeting Harry's eyes because he was finding it impossible to hold back his tears. "Better stop hugging. Your boyfriend will get jealous," he said.

Harry coughed out an awkward laugh, and heard Cedric chuckle softly behind him. "Yeah, you're right," Harry said. "I'll see you soon then." He blinked at Ron, his lips quivering. "My Wheezy."

Ron's eyes were wide as he stared at Harry, and his lips parted as if he was about to speak, but nothing more than a squeak came out. He nodded instead, swallowing hard. He couldn't say goodbye. Just couldn't. He raised his hand and awkwardly touched Harry's arm, before turning around and running from the hospital wing.

Harry started sobbing, and so did Hermione, who hugged him quickly and almost painfully tight. "You're so brave, Harry. And so grown up about it all." She sobbed. "See you soon, Harry." One quick kiss on the cheek, and she was running after Ron.

Harry was left standing there with tears streaming down his face, but then he was turned around and Cedric folded his arms around him and held him tight, letting him cry for as long as he needed to while joining him quietly.

Eventually, Cedric manoeuvred them back onto the bed and lay down with Harry tightly ensconced in his arms, drawing the blanket up over them both. He kissed the tears from Harry's face, stroked his fingers through damp hair, and murmured soothing nonsense until Harry calmed down.

"What are you going to do after next year?" Harry finally whispered, fingers clenched in Cedric's pyjama top.

Cedric kissed the top of his head. "Beg Dumbledore for a job. Any job."

Harry smiled into Cedric's chest despite himself. "You'll do that?"

"Of course, Harry. I'm not going anywhere until you're back in my arms."

Harry felt warm all over, knowing he'd be reminding himself of that constantly during the next two years. "What if there's no teaching job?" he asked hesitantly.

"Then I'll be Hagrid's assistant," Cedric mused. "I've always had a bit of a soft spot for flobberworms."

Harry smirked. "And if you can't be?"

"I'll cat-sit Mrs Norris?" Cedric suggested. "Or I could get rid of all my clothes and become a house-elf. I'm not a bad cook."

Harry laughed hoarsely through his ebbing tears. "I'd pay to see that."

"I'd never charge you," Cedric teased. "When you get back, you can present me with clothing and release me with a kiss," he suggested, and raised Harry's face by his chin.

Harry licked his lips. "I'd better practise so I'll do it right," he said hoarsely, shifting upwards until his mouth met Cedric's. They kissed softly at first, but when it began to truly sink in with Harry how very nearly he had lost this, how very nearly he would have never been able to kiss Cedric again, the kiss became desperate.

Cedric felt Harry's emotional shift, and it set him off as well, and for a long time, they simply clung, devouring each other's mouths until their lips were raw and puffy and their breaths little more than shallow gasps.

"I love you," Harry whispered against Cedric's lips, his fingertips aimlessly flittering over his cheeks.

Cedric held him close enough to look into his eyes. "I love you too, Harry. So, so much." Cedric's breath was warm and sweet against the clammy skin of Harry's face as he peppered it with kisses.

Harry closed his eyes, purring under the tender assault, arching his neck when Cedric's mouth moved over his chin and down his throat. "I'm going to dream about this every night I'm away," he whispered brokenly.

"I will too," Cedric murmured, his lips against Harry's ear. Harry shivered. "Oh Harry, the things I'm going to do to you when you get back." Cedric's voice was low and husky.

"Tell me," Harry pleaded, his fingers buried in Cedric's damp hair.

"I'm going to give everyone a chance to say hello and happy birthday to you, and then I'm going to take you away with me, where no one will find us, and I'm going to make love to you for days, until you won't even remember we've ever been apart."

Harry gasped, and Cedric took advantage of his parted lips and covered them with his own, his tongue sliding inside and teasing Harry's until they were both too breathless to continue.

"Cedric," Harry panted, his head falling back into the pillow, his eyes huge with only the thinnest rings of green surrounding the black of his pupils.

Cedric looked down at him, no more composed than Harry. He brushed a strand of hair from Harry's forehead, his fingertip caressing the lightning scar almost accidentally. "I'm so very proud of you," he said softly. "What you've done today..."

Harry raised his index finger to cover Cedric's lips. "I couldn't let you not keep your promise."

Looking thoughtful for a moment, Cedric's eyes softened when he realised what Harry meant. "I promised you a lot of time together, didn't I?" Harry nodded, unable to speak. "You knew all along something would happen," Cedric said. It wasn't a question.

"I didn't know what, but I was so terrified." Harry sucked in a deep breath. "When Wormtail killed you... I... I felt as if I'd never breathe again. I knew I'd never laugh again. I felt so... empty. Alone." He inhaled sharply. "I think I went mad. I--" He closed his eyes in shame.

"What did you do?" Cedric's voice and his hands in Harry's hair were gentle and soothing.

"I threatened Hermione with my wand when she didn't want to tell me where the time turner was. And... I think... I would have used it, too."

Cedric kissed him, as tenderly as he could. "Hush, Harry. Don't think about that anymore. It happened in a different time. I'm here. I'm fine. I don't want you to ever feel alone again, even while we're apart, you hear?" He caressed Harry's face with the tips of his fingers. "I'll be thinking about you constantly. And I'll be right here, just waiting for you to come back. Don't forget that."

Harry shook his head. "I won't," he croaked.

They kissed for long minutes, so wrapped up in each other, they never heard the soft popping sound of a house-elf appearing at the foot of the bed.

Dobby squeaked, his eyes big as saucers.

Cedric and Harry parted reluctantly, looking back at him, and all three of them were blushing. "Ah, Dobby? What is it?" Harry asked.

"Harry Potter, sir." Dobby bowed, the tray in his hands shaking nearly enough to topple over. "Headmaster Dumbledore is sending supper for Masters Harry and Cedric."

"Oh." Harry had no interest whatsoever in food, but he thought that to accept it graciously would probably be the quickest way to be rid of Dobby again. He wanted as much time alone with Cedric as he could get.

Cedric must have had the same thought. "Thank you, Dobby," he said pleasantly. "We appreciate it."

Dobby set the covered tray down on the bedside table and stared at them both, then sniffed very loudly and messily and threw himself at Harry's arm, sobbing into his pyjama sleeve. "Dobby has heard of Harry Potter's punishment, sir!" he cried. "Dobby is most aggrieved, and will have to iron his hands for his nasty thoughts about Minister Fudge!"

"Don't you dare!" Cedric admonished sternly, reaching out to squeeze Dobby's thin, shaking shoulder. "Nasty thoughts about nasty people are actually good thoughts, Dobby. You should reward yourself instead."

"Master Cedric?" Dobby blinked, utterly confused.

"Have some hot chocolate when you get back down to the kitchens. Or anything else you like. I..." Cedric smiled gently. "We both order you to."

"Yes, we do," Harry agreed.

Dobby looked at them both in complete awe. "Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter are most generous and kind." He retreated slowly, patting down Harry's now damp arm as he did so. "We will miss Harry Potter," he croaked.

"I'll miss you too, Dobby." Harry tried to smile. "Say goodbye to the other house-elves for me?"

Dobby nodded, gulping. Blinking wetly, he snapped his fingers and was gone.

Cedric looked at Harry and, seeing that he was on the verge of crying again, quickly reached across him and uncovered the tray. "Finger foods, Harry. How thoughtful of Dobby." He smiled.

Harry tried to smile back. "Not hungry."

"That's a pity." Cedric sighed. "I was going to feed you."

"Oh." Wide-eyed, Harry watched him pick up a ham and asparagus roll and slowly move it towards his lips.

"Are you _sure_ you're not hungry?" Cedric purred, resting the delicate asparagus tip on Harry's bottom lip.

"Uh..." Harry's mouth opened just long enough for Cedric to slide it a little way over the tender red flesh.

Cedric watched Harry's lips, mesmerised. "Please, Harry?"

Harry's mouth closed around the tip and, cooked to perfection as it was, it came right off. He swallowed.

So did Cedric. "More?" His voice was husky.

Not trusting himself to speak, Harry nodded. His eyes widened when Cedric unrolled the ham and let the rest of the asparagus spear tip forward into Harry's open mouth.

Cedric was breathing hard, his cheeks flushed. His eyes were fixed on Harry's damp lips and he watched a soft pink tongue slide across them to lap up traces of mayonnaise.

"I might be hungry after all," Harry said, his eyes darting to the tray, and right back to Cedric. "I wouldn't mind one of those bangers."

"They'll still be fine in a little while," Cedric said huskily, having changed his mind. And snacks definitely forgotten, he pressed Harry into the pillow and devoured his mouth, pinning his wrists into the feather pillow above his head. He licked at his soft lips, and thrust his tongue between them over and over, until Harry was shaking so hard in his arms that Cedric began to worry he might be scaring him.

He looked down at him, apology on his lips, and found Harry panting harshly, staring up at him with such hunger in his eyes that it took his breath away. Then Harry arched up against him, and Cedric pressed him back down with his own weight. They both kept very still, muscles tight as bowstrings, eyes fixed on each other. And then Cedric shifted just the slightest bit, and Harry immediately took advantage, parting his legs and wrapping them around Cedric's hips.

"Harry..." Cedric's eyes closed, his tongue licking over his lips.

The grip of Harry's legs tightened, his calves forcing Cedric's hips hard against his own. "Yes," he whispered, rocking upwards. He arched his neck so he could kiss Cedric, his hands still restrained above his head, but he didn't mind at all. He relished the firm grip of Cedric's fingers.

"Stop," Cedric breathed, even as he rocked back, the friction too perfect, the impending loss of Harry for two long years too much to bear while he was in his arms like this. "Don't... stop." He returned the feverish kisses, shifted his weight ever so slightly so he could keep Harry's wrists pinned with one hand and move the other down, underneath the body arching up against him, resting it in the warmth of the small of Harry's back.

"Cedric!" Harry gasped, his breath hot and moist as it flowed over the shell of Cedric's ear, the pulse at the base of his throat racing when full lips fluttered over it. He shifted his legs, one upwards to Cedric's waist, the other stretching out to slide along the outside of Cedric's thigh, and the slight change of position brought about a whole new range of sensations, and he was whimpering.

Cedric's hand slipped under the back of Harry's pyjama top, hot against the curve of his spine as it moved up between his shoulder blades, and down again, further and further down. When it reached the waistband of soft cotton pants, it didn't dip inside, but continued over it, moulding to the sleek curve of a firm cheek, squeezing as he thrust downwards hard and, crying Harry's name, he came.

Harry was trembling, groaning, Cedric's release and the spreading dampness between them setting him off as well, and he sobbed into Cedric's shoulder while his entire body jerked uncontrollably. Then he sank back into the softness of the bed and the comfort of Cedric's arm around his waist, and sighed.

Cedric rolled off him, pulling him into his arms and holding him tight. He nuzzled Harry's hair, and his voice sounded completely shattered when he whispered, "I adore you."

Harry clung to Cedric as if that could somehow keep people from taking him away in the morning. Tears were pricking at the corners of his eyes, and his heart was so full he couldn't even contemplate speaking, but he hoped Cedric understood when he clutched at him as hard as he could and pressed desperate little kisses against his neck.

The kisses were damp with tears, stinging Cedric's skin, and he held Harry tight, stroking his hair and moving his hand soothingly up and down his back. "Hush now. It's okay, Harry," he murmured. "We'll be okay."

Harry nodded, his hair brushing Cedric's skin. "Hold me," he managed. "For as long as possible."

"I'll hold you all night, Harry."

"Please, please don't let me sleep," Harry begged. "I don't want to waste a single hour."

And Cedric didn't let him sleep. He cuddled him and held him and kissed away the tears that just kept flowing. And then he let Harry kiss away his own. And for the rest of the night, they took turns. When their tears finally ran dry, they started making plans for the future; a future that wouldn't start for two more years.

* * *

In the morning, they dressed quietly and sat on the bed, hands tightly clasped together, Harry's head on Cedric's shoulder.

The nearly untouched dinner tray had somehow been replaced by a breakfast tray without either of them noticing, but that too remained untouched.

Dumbledore found them like that, heart heavy and looking older than he had the previous evening. "It's time, I'm afraid," he said regretfully.

Harry and Cedric looked at each nother, and Cedric leaned down and kissed Harry for a long time. When their lips parted, he pressed his own tightly together to imprint Harry's taste on them. "I can't say goodbye."

"Don't. I don't want you to," Harry agreed, looking pale and drawn. "I love you."

Cedric gulped. "I love you too." He stroked Harry's cheek, watching him lean into the caress with a sigh. "I'll be waiting."

"I'll hurry back," said Harry, resolutely standing up and using all his resolve to not crumple to the floor when his legs nearly gave in.

"Do, Harry." Cedric released his hand reluctantly, their fingers sliding apart slowly. "And be strong. For me."

Harry swallowed a sob. "You too."

Cedric nodded. Their fingers were no longer touching.

Dumbledore's arm wrapped around Harry's shoulder, and breaking eye contact between the boys, he started walking him to the door of the hospital wing. "Don't look back, Harry," he said softly, his own voice thick with emotion.

Harry allowed himself to be led from the room, staunchly following Dumbledore's advice. "I'm not," he murmured. "I'm looking forward."

Dumbledore squeezed his shoulder, feeling proud, and then they were in the corridor where two uneasy looking aurors were waiting.

 

to be continued and concluded very soon...


End file.
